Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris StrugatskyShort Letter, Long Farewell by Peter HandkeInvisible Cities by Italo CalvinoTriptricks by Ann Quin
Probably Roadside picnic.
Love to read Mumbo Jumbo someday!
― xyzzzz__, Tuesday, 1 June 2021 11:54 (two years ago) link
should really put my glasses on, thought that Green Darkness was written by Ayrton Senna for a moment.
― A viking of frowns, (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Tuesday, 1 June 2021 12:04 (two years ago) link
Having a hard time choosing between the Strugatskys and Calvino, Le Guin too but I've voted for her in previous polls so she can sit this one out. The only other one I've read is Charlie And The Great Glass Elevator, which comes a distant fourth even with the Vermicious Knids and Shanks, Shuckworth & Showler (the only two things I remember about it).
― nostrildamus (Matt #2), Tuesday, 1 June 2021 13:26 (two years ago) link
as a a big quin devotee have to say i struggled with triptricks
― devvvine, Tuesday, 1 June 2021 14:16 (two years ago) link
Calvino. Lovely concept and execution, timeless yet modern, etc.
― pomenitul, Tuesday, 1 June 2021 14:50 (two years ago) link
Reading the recent translation from Wakefield of Waystations of the Deep Night by Marcel Brion, a collection of "weird" short stories originally published in 1942, it struck me that the title story could well have influenced Calvino.
― Mark E. Smith died this year. Or, maybe last year. (bernard snowy), Tuesday, 1 June 2021 15:04 (two years ago) link
haven't read any of these! been meaning to get around to calvino forever
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Tuesday, 1 June 2021 15:13 (two years ago) link
Mumbo Jumbo for me: jazzy satire instigated by Voudon elements, with an alt-historical cinematic quality, kinda low-key, deadpan, with good timing.Haven't yet read Revolt of the Cockroach People, which is about a Brown Power campaign, as recounted by activist Oscar Zeta Acosta, whose Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo is pretty amazing---he's the basis for the attorney in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
― dow, Tuesday, 1 June 2021 15:59 (two years ago) link
challop: Roadside Picnic is better than Stalker
― Brad C., Tuesday, 1 June 2021 16:06 (two years ago) link
The Christopher Priest is excellent but should probably go for Strugatskys or Calvino.
― Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Tuesday, 1 June 2021 16:13 (two years ago) link
Although just seen Surfacing - the only Atwood I've ever really connected with.
― Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Tuesday, 1 June 2021 16:15 (two years ago) link
summer book & invisible cities are neck & neck, & share something that i can't put my finger on, a light touch maybe. can't decide between them. i enjoyed tripticks as well though not at the same level, which remains the only quin i've read yet.
― vivian dark, Tuesday, 1 June 2021 17:03 (two years ago) link
No one's mentioned Watership Down, which got my vote.
― heyy nineteen, that's john belushi (the table is the table), Tuesday, 1 June 2021 17:12 (two years ago) link
Watership Down is highly beloved by many ilxors, as shown when it gets mentioned in other threads, but like many well-known books it is the film or television adaptation that dominates the conversation. I reread it a couple of years ago and can see why it, like Tolkien, would make an oversize impression on young adults. That's an age that responds strongly to mythos and both Adams and Tolkien incorporate mythic elements extremely well. It may well win the poll.
I voted Tove Jansson's Summer Book, but I also strongly considered The Manticore.
― What's It All About, Althea? (Aimless), Tuesday, 1 June 2021 17:29 (two years ago) link
The Polo/Khan sections of Invisible Cities are Calvino's very best writing IMO. The cities parts are fun but a bit tedious, but this book gets my vote.
Honorable mention to "August 1914" which is top tier Solzhenitsyn IMO.
That Dahl book is terrible.
― justfanoe (Greg Fanoe), Tuesday, 1 June 2021 23:16 (two years ago) link
One more IMO than I intended in that last post.
― justfanoe (Greg Fanoe), Tuesday, 1 June 2021 23:17 (two years ago) link
― devvvine
Yeah, I think it's her weakest. It feels like an attempt at furthering her style that just falls a bit flat. I always say it's her only properly post-modern novel, though that in itself isn't the problem, and I would probably still vote for it as a Good book that doesn't quite hit Great, but there are several other amazing things to vote for here.
Really tempted to give Mumbo Jumbo my vote, as its innovations are so effortless and fun and I fear it will be overlooked, but my heart belongs to Invisible Cities, honestly. Roadside Picnic and Watership Down both strong contenders too.
― emil.y, Wednesday, 2 June 2021 12:25 (two years ago) link
Shamefully I've only read "Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator". By any reasonable standard its not one of Dahl's better books. He rarely wrote sequels but I guess he made an exception in this case, perhaps it had something to with "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" being his best-selling book. Perhaps to compensate, he made this one of his silliest books that I know of, indulging in more than the usual share of outright absurdity.
― o. nate, Wednesday, 2 June 2021 16:08 (two years ago) link
I read both to my kids last year, C&TGGE reads like it was put together in a single sitting without a plan, it's like the rubbish thing I produced when I did nanowrimo.
― A viking of frowns, (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 2 June 2021 16:12 (two years ago) link
It's kind of Dahl doing self-parody. It prefigures David Walliam's success as an author of Dahl parodies for children.
― o. nate, Wednesday, 2 June 2021 16:15 (two years ago) link
yes, the random inconsequential space stuff and the uncalled-for involvement of the president of the USA do smack of the walliams.
― A viking of frowns, (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 2 June 2021 16:18 (two years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Thursday, 3 June 2021 00:01 (two years ago) link
I thought number of books I'd read from a given year would increase as time went on. BUt still only a handful here . Oh well maybe I'm still reading other books from a given year.Have read 4 or 5 of these anyway or at least have them floating around my floor . Shame those 2 categories aren't automatically interchangeable.
― Stevolende, Thursday, 3 June 2021 09:20 (two years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Friday, 4 June 2021 00:01 (two years ago) link
No votes for The Farthest shore, not that surprising as it is a bit of a downer. Tombs of Atuan is the highlight of the original trilogy but I think that was displaced by The Lathe of Heaven.
The Miracle Game is a book I read because it was on my shelves, no idea where it came from but it was good enough to read twice.
― I was born anxious, here's how to do it. (ledge), Friday, 4 June 2021 07:59 (two years ago) link
Wherein We Elect Our Favourite Novels of 1973
― Daniel_Rf, Friday, 4 June 2021 10:57 (two years ago) link
I like The Farthest Shore a lot, actually, but I couldn't vote for anything but The Summer Book.
― Lily Dale, Friday, 4 June 2021 13:14 (two years ago) link
Gave up on it tbh.
― Are Animated Dads Getting Hotter? (Tom D.), Friday, 4 June 2021 13:20 (two years ago) link